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Giant
In times past, in the ages just before the rise of man, Giants ruled the Earth. Human in general appearance, but possessing immense strength and proportion, the Giants of bygone ages battled the uncaring forces of Chaos and Death, rose to the top of the food chain, and brought a crude but definitive form of order to the world at large. They are spoken of in almost every ancient cultural mythology, and the oldest religions possess tales of their exploits. How strange it is, then, that in the modern age they are almost entirely absent and few if any of the Adepts have ever even seen one of them? Origin: No one can say definitively where the Giants originated from, or why they were created. The Bible speaks of the Nephilim, human/Celestial hybrids known to grow to prodigious size. However, Xtrian scriptures also speak of giants being "in the ground" purportedly even before the fall of the rebel angels. In the ancient legends of the Northmen, there are the Jotun who are both a race of creatures as well as a prehistoric Pantheon of barbarian gods. The people of the White Lodge, ages before the arrival of the palefaces, often interacted with Giants native to North America. Some of these giants were friendly, while others were quite hostile, and the White Lodge has legends of ancient wars fought between their Adepts and the Giants. And the Greek gods are famous for their ancient battles with the gigantic Olympians... The truth of the matter is that no one has a working theory. Giants have existed alongside humanity as far back as anyone can remember. But there is no historical or archaeological evidence for how precisely they came about. Facts: -Giants are dying out. They have been for the past thousand years. The rise of humans (with their rapid rate of reproduction in comparison to Giants) means that there are now far, far more human Adepts than Giant ones. Repeated conflicts and wars, and an overall lack of civility on the part of the Giants has meant that when they and humans come into contact, the result is usually bloodshed (the Brotherhood of Man has taken a particularly harsh stance towards them because of this). And with humanity's greater numbers, the rate of Giants being born has been drastically lower than their death rate. -Be that as it may, they are still a force to be reckoned with. Giants are not immortal, but their lifespans are crazy long. Several Giants have been known to be a thousand years old or more! And most Giants possess the power to hibernate deep underground, suspending their process of aging while they do so. This means that even with a slower birth rate they have managed to hold out their population for this long. -Of course, the modern era has brought new dangers which even the Giants have proven unready for. The appearance of a Giant in public generally leads to a drastic infraction of the Discipline Arcani. This means that the IAS has taken a strong interest in the Giants, as has their patron Order the Enforcers. Around the world, many Giants have been forcibly detained by the IAS, or killed outright, in order to ensure the Discipline continues. -Not all hope is lost, however, as there appears to be a growing strain of Giants who possess the power to shift their physical proportions back and forth. These Giants can actually recede their height, growing smaller until they are roughly the size of humans. Their appearance will always be a little off, with big stubby noses, flattened faces and slow wits. But they can pass for humans as long as no one looks too closely. -The Giant race does seem to possess strong ties to both nature and the forces of Chaos. Druids and Marauder Adepts are common among them, as are Hunters, Warriors, Creationists, Reapers and even a few Kings. -Cannibalism has been tied to the Giants for centuries. However, evidence for the widespread practice of eating the flesh of other Giants or humans is scant. This appears to be more of an urban legend that was stuck to the Giants by fearful humans in ages past. -Most Giants aren't exactly rocket scientists. The average Giant is usually average in intelligence, with a penchant for slowness in thought. However, some Giants have somehow developed advanced intelligences. One such example is Utgardaloki, a Giant and a powerful Sorcerer from Jutonheim whose magick was powerful enough even to challenge the thunder god Thor! References: -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant Category:Man Category:Brotherhood Of Man Category:Chaos Category:Gaia Category:Civilizations Category:Magick Category:Survival